A Beautiful Mess
by Mindy35
Summary: Jack/Liz. Follow-up to "Lip Service" and "The One Where Liz is Late". Jack falls for Liz's daughter.


Rating: K

Disclaimer: Tina's et al.

Spoilers: Not really.

Pairing: Jack/Liz

Summary: This is the third installment of a series that begins with "Lip Service" and continues with "The One Where Liz is Late". It will make some sense if you've not read but to read the full (adult) versions of these stories and this whole series, please head to mindymakru dot livejournal dot com (or just google mindymakru:)).

A/N: Named after the song by Jason Mraz.

* * *

When she opens her eyes Jack is standing at the wide hospital window, pointing out at the dusk-tinged city skyline, murmuring to the bundle in his arms. It's hardly surprising to her that he remains while all her other guests have left. Presumably, Jack either charmed or bribed the nursing staff into letting him stay long after visiting hours ended. What is a little surprising is the sweet look on his face, the sparkle in his eye, not to mention the sight of uber-male and big-time honcho Jack Donaghy gently cradling a baby.

Liz sits up a little in her bed, almost regretting disturbing the little scene he's got going on by saying, "You're not teaching my daughter about capitalism already, are you?"

Jack turns to her, with yet-to-be-named Baby Lemon in his arms. "You need to start them young, Lemon. And this girl has a brilliant mind."

She smiles. "How can you tell?"

"I just can." He moves, overly careful, towards her bed. "Not only is she brilliant - she's as gorgeous as her mother." He raises his eyes from her child to her, the rare sparkle still present. "She even has your eyes."

"My black shark's eyes?"

"Exactly."

Her brow furrows. "What a horrible thing to say about a child."

"It wasn't meant to be horrible," Jack says, easing himself down on the side of the bed. "It's you who interprets it as being horrible."

Liz peers over the blanket at her dozy daughter. "How am I supposed to interpret having the cold, empty eyes of a feared and hated predator?"

"Sharks are widely misunderstood creatures," Jack tells her, still holding her baby to his chest. "Much like you were to me, initially. But one glare from those intense eyes and I was slain. I was consumed. Utterly done for."

"Hm…" she mutters to herself, "is that what that meant?"

"She has the same…piercing gaze," he goes on, rapt by Baby Lemon's brown eyes, "Like she can see right through me. And look at this-" he tilts the tiny bundle toward her, lifts his hand so that she can see the miniature fingers wrapped around his larger one, "…that kills me."

"She likes you," Liz notes, examining the contented expression on her baby's face. "She probably recognizes your voice from when she was inside me."

Jack looks up. "You think so?"

She shrugs, lightly stroking the fingers that clasp him so tight. "She heard it enough, so probably."

Jack's gaze lowers again. "I've never felt anything like this before." He shakes his head, murmuring after a moment, "I think I'm in love, Lemon."

"Oh boy." Her eyes flick up to his face, "You're not gonna do a Woody Allen on me, are you?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You're not going to wait til she's of age then try and marry her."

Jack shoots her a disgusted look. "That's sick."

"Hey," she points out, raising her brows, "I saw the age of the last woman hanging off your arm. They seem to get progressively younger, how am I to know where that stops?"

"That's ludicrous." He shakes his head again, telling her, "And the only woman getting anywhere near my arm these days, is you."

"I'm hoping that's not a euphemism."

"It's not," he murmurs, passing the precious bundle across to her, one big hand under her small head. "In any case, I don't want to marry her. I want to marry you and be her father."

Liz stalls, her eyes turning anxious as she settles back with her child. Her voice is hesitant when she says, "She already has a father, Jack."

"Then I'll be her Jack," he responds, unperturbed.

She peers at him from under her brows. "And what's that, exactly?"

He draws in a breath, runs an eye over her. "I'll be to her what I was to you. The one person who is always there for her, always encourages her, always helps her, always listens to her, always loves her." He pauses, then adds quickly, "I promise not to make fun of her shoes. But I probably will want to buy her lots of things." He pauses again, adding quickly again, "And I still wish to marry you."

She frowns a little. "Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?"

He blinks back. "No, I don't think so."

"I think you're just," she shakes her head, averting her eyes, "…a little emotional from everything that's happened."

"Lemon," he asks her, rather purposefully, "when have you ever known me to let my emotions override my decision-making process?"

She thinks. "Rarely."

"Exactly."

"But, Jack-" she glances down at Baby Lemon, whose little eyes have slipped shut, "this is another man's child. Dennis is forever going to be a part of my life now, a part of her life. This whole situation is a weird, irreversible mess. How can you possibly want to be a part of it?"

"Because it's your mess," he says, a smile curving his lips. "And hers. And I am already a part of it - as you well know…As for Dennis, we've already had a chat."

She blinks, brows drawn together. "You…have?"

He bobs his head. "He's far more reasonable than you give him credit for. He showed me how to hold the baby, you know - how to support her head."

"No kidding."

"And while being with you was one of the definite high points of his life, he is seeing someone else now. A woman with children of her own. He's surprisingly good with them, too. He said it's because his sisters were young mothers."

"Uh huh."

"What's more," he concludes, "that man worships the ground this little girl is yet to walk upon. So we decided between us that we would be happy to share responsibility for her happiness."

Her lips part in shock. "You guys wanna _Mamma Mia_ my kid?"

"Something like that." Jack gives a shrug, "Between the two of us I'm sure we will probably make twice as many mistakes. But she will also have twice the love."

Liz shakes her head in disbelief, her eyes wide. "Do I get a say in this? At all?"

"We thought of a name too," he offers with a smile, "if you're interested."

"Oh really?"

"Ada," he murmurs, the twinkle returning to his eyes. "Isn't that pretty? Ada Lemon?"

"It sounds like _ate a lemon_," she points out wryly.

"I think it suits her," he says, peering over the blanket at her face. "I think it's beautiful."

Liz lets out a breath, rolling her eyes. "Oh, who am I kidding? The poor kid's gonna be teased no matter what. With Lemon as her surname, it's unavoidable."

Jack is silent a moment. "She could be Ada Donaghy in the future," he says softly, "If that's what you wanted."

Her eyes meet his, then lower to her daughter's face. "That is…kinda pretty…" she takes in a breath then admits rather haltingly, "Jack, I just…I don't want you to miss out on having your own children, is all."

"I don't intend to," Jack replies. "If Dennis Duffy can successfully impregnate you, I'm sure I would have no trouble doing so."

"O-kay. That's nice."

"Incidentally, I can also guarantee you enjoying it," he adds, perfectly serious, "which is probably more than Dennis could."

Liz eyes him curiously. "It's…not a competition, you know. You do realize you're talking about bringing new life into this world?"

"I know," Jack nods. He goes on in a wheedling tone, "But don't you want little Ada here to have a brother or sister?"

"Well. Maybe," she murmurs, pulling the blanket tighter around her child, "I guess, maybe..."

There's a silence. Not an awkward one, but a calm one. One in which Liz rocks back and forth slightly, lulling her little girl in her sleep. One that Jack eventually breaks by murmuring, with eyes fixed on her face:

"You look beautiful, by the way."

"I'll bet," she laughs quietly, "I'm probably more of a mess than I've ever been."

"But in a beautiful way." He reaches out to curl some mussed hair behind her ear. "And you were amazing in there too."

She looks up, wincing slightly, "Yeah. I'm really sorry. For yelling at you like I did."

Jack scoffs. "Please. I'm a Donaghy. I've heard far worse, it's like water off a duck's back to me."

"Well, even so..." she shakes her head ruefully, "There really was no need to call you a-"

He waves a hand in the air, then indicates the baby. "I don't think it needs repeating. Especially in front of-"

"Right." She nods. "Sorry. Again."

His lips turn up at the edges as he assures her, "I was raised on tough love, Liz. And though I do admit I had little idea that you possessed such foul phraseology, I took none of it to heart."

"Okay, good," she sighs, then directs her attention back to her baby. "Well," she sighs after a pause, "I guess the good news is between your over-compensating adoration and my excessive positive reinforcement, this girl is gonna think she's totally indestructible."

"No, that's absurd," Jack states confidently, stroking her fine baby hair. "She's much too smart for that."

Liz smiles, muttering to herself, "And so it begins." She bites her lip, eyes lifting to the face of her long-time friend, sometime-lover, perhaps-future-everything-else. "Hey," she whispers, drawing his attention.

Jack looks up.

"Come here," she says.

He leans in, one hand covering the hand she has wrapped around their little bundle of joy. Her eyes drop to his mouth as he moves closer, then they close over as his lips graze hers in a soft kiss. He pulls back a little to look at her. Then moves in again, pressing another more lingering kiss to her lips. Her mouth opens a little and his tongue begins teasing her, seeking entry.

"Hey," she asks him when they part, "do you realize you're tonguing someone's mom?"

Jack smirks. And kisses her again. With tongue.

_END. _


End file.
